IN THE NEWS AND IN YOUR EARS: BLACK TUSK, GODSIC, THE CROWN, DREAMING DEAD, AND AMON AMARTH

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Sep 102011
 

Yesterday my fucking day job actually demanded that I work instead of blog. Amazingly harsh that they actually expected me to do something I’m being paid to do. How fucking medieval! The result is that this round-up of news and new music is appearing a day later than it should have. Like hemorroids and lung cancer, these things happen.

Despite a waning of some of the excitement that comes with being first and fast out of the shute, and instead being late and resigning yourself to watching the buttholes of all the other horses that got the jump on you, I’m forging ahead anyway, waiting for that massive kick around the last turn that will leave the buttholes in the dust.

BLACK TUSK

Yeah, the black fucking tusk, with the John Dyer Baizley cover (above) for their new album, Set the Dial. This Savannah band’s 2010 album, Taste the Sin, was one we liked and wrote about last year (here), so we’ve been waiting for a taste of the newness, which we got yesterday. It’s a new song called “Bring Me Darkness”, which coincidentally is my order of choice at the bars I frequent. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

CRUSHED

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 092011
 

“Crushing” is a great descriptive word for certain kinds of metal, which is why it’s used so often. It’s a very physical word — it refers to a physical act of destruction, and the obliteration of something solid into pieces, rendering it no longer recognizablle as what it was.

An argument can be made that the word is overused. I don’t pay attention to those arguments, because although I work hard on my vocabulary, there aren’t many other words that convey the meaning of “crushing”. To me, it connotes the decimating effect of massive, irresistable weight brought down hard on something relatively fragile. Like my skull, or yours.

“Crushing” is the dominant word that came to mind when I watched three live videos late yesterday by Tombs. I feel guilty about Tombs, because I’ve been overwhelmed by their June 2011 album Path of Totality, and although I’ve featured songs from that album before (here), I’ve never repaid the favor of this music with a review. I take solace from the fact that I’ve similarly defaulted on my moral obligations to dozens of other bands. In this way, the more you repeat the same mistake, the less consequential the mistake becomes. The human capacity for self-delusion is amazing, and amazingly wonderful.

Where was I? Oh yeah — Tombs. I’ve always had trouble trying to classify their music. It’s part American black metal, part catastrophic doom, part grindcore, part sludge. I can’t fix on a genre label, which I suppose is why I revert to the word “crushing”. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

IN THE NEWS AND IN YOUR EARS: KRISIUN, FINNTROLL, AND HOUR OF PENANCE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Sep 082011
 

I doubt I’ll be able to continue doing this on a regular basis, but for the third day in a row, here’s a round-up of news I saw and music I heard today that I thought were worth sharing.

KRISIUN

It’s been three years since Krisiun released Southern Storm, and that’s far too long to wait for another slab of death metal bestiality from these Brazilian kings of the genre. Today’s wonderful news is that Krisiun will be releasing their eighth studio album, The Great Execution, on October 31 in Europe and November 1 in North America via Century Media Records.

A press release explains that the album “musically expands Krisiun’s trademark high-speed death metal violence with a heavily increased amount of diversity ranging from extreme tempo variations over distinct rhythm patterns to clean guitars and even Flamenco parts!” In addition, “Krisiun only used analog gear and instruments this time to avoid the compressed sound that so many musicians produce today. This wise decision resulted in a more organic sound, with the songs on The Great Execution possessing both warmth and rawness, which are so often lost through digital production. The low end is deeper, with drums that pound instead of bounce and guitar tones that sear rather than hiss.”

That just sounds fuckin’ peachy, don’t it? And what about that album art up above, by by Japanese artist Toshihiro Egawa (Suicide Silence, Heaven Shall Burn, Devourment, Dying Fetus)? Metal As Fuck.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

VIDEO PROOF THAT AFTER THE BURIAL MAKES CATHOLIC GIRLS TAKE OFF THEIR UNDERWEAR, HEADBANG, AND TONGUE EACH OTHER (AT LEAST IN ATB’S DREAMS)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
Sep 082011
 

Last year, Andy Synn reviewed After the Burial’s 2010 album, In Dreams, and was underwhelmed. I was, too. After high expectations, it was indeed one of the most disappointing releases of the year. I have a sad feeling that ATB has left the brilliant days of Rareform behind forever.

So I really can’t explain why I watched the band’s just released official video for an In Dreams song called “Pendulum”. There are moments in the song when the band latches onto a riff that at least conjures up memories of Rareform, but the rest of the song just comes way too close to generic metalcore.

I guess the video is an attempt to sex-up the song, or rather convince everyone that it will sex you up if you listen to it. Y’know, take a stereotype of repressed teenagers (girls in a Catholic school) and show how they get all uninhibited and rebellious when listening to the rad music of ATB. I thought it was a little creepy, in addition to being grossly cliched. So, why am I including it in today’s NCS posts? Fuck if I know. Anyway, the video is after the jump. Continue reading »

MEGADETH: A NEW SONG AND ALBUM ART

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  35 Responses »
Sep 082011
 

Let’s start with a confession: I can’t stand Dave Mustaine. Really can’t stand him. I do my best to avoid reading anything he says, but it’s difficult because  he just WILL. NOT. SHUT. UP.

Another confession: I’m not a huge Megadeth fan. Never have been. Among “The Big Four”, I was much more into Metallica and Slayer. But — I’m also bored shitless reading about The Big Four. All of them. BORED. SHITLESS.

I’m making these confessions so you’ll understand that when I say the new Megadeth song is good, it’s not the reaction of a slobbering fanboy or an effort by an ambitious metal blogger to give a knob-job to the Old Gods. I just really like the damned song. It’s called “Public Enemy No. 1”, and it started streaming today on the official Megadeth web page (here). Of course, it has already made its way to YouTube. Listen to it after the jump. It fucken rocks.

By the way, though I suppose it’s pretty damned obvious, the album cover art for the next Megadeth album, TH1RT3EN, has also been revealed. It’s by John Lorenzi. Continue reading »

IN THE NEWS AND IN YOUR EARS: THY CATAFALQUE, HYPOCRISY, AGALLOCH, AND RYE WOLVES

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Sep 072011
 

Here’s another daily round-up of news and new music that I noticed today. All of these items perked me right up, so I thought I’d share them.

THY CATAFALQUE

Compared to other metal blogs, we’re late to the Thy Catafalque party, but we’re making up for lost time because the unique music of this Hungarian band has been a cool discovery (you can see our first post about them here).  We knew that the band had recently signed with the dependable Season of Mist label, but this morning we got a message from Tamás Kátai with further details.

Specifically, the band seems to have finished 60 minutes worth of new music (10 songs) that will be released on November 11 in Europe and on January 10, 2012 in North America. It will be entitled Rengeteg, and you can see the cover art up above, which is the result of a collaboration between Tamás and Portuguese photographer Ruy Luz. The art seems connected to the meaning of the album’s title, which is an obsolete Hungarian word referring to a vast, trackless forest. We’ll be all ears when this album becomes available for listening.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

MATHDEATHBOOGIE?

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Sep 072011
 

I had only planned to feature one Finnish band yesterday (Decaying), y’know, because, like, I didn’t wanna come off as such a Finland fanboy that people would think we don’t have any objectivity about Finnish metal at all, like, people will think we get off on the sound of Finnish bands taking a big dump in the gold-plated, mic-ed up toilets that all people in Finland have, with the sounds becoming instant demo’s that metal labels worldwide just eat up like good fucking pancakes.

Where was I? Oh yeah, I was only going to feature one Finnish band yesterday, even though I saw this review at Steff Metal. But that was yesterday and today is today, so I’m going with it now. Maybe if you see just an excerpt from her review you’ll understand why NOT listening to this band was an impossibility for me:

Observation is a shocker of an album – it’s a prime example of a bunch of talented musicians taking an idea and running with it, no holds barred, no stopping to wonder if maybe they’re being a bit silly. It’s an album that, had some lesser bunch of weirdos put it out, it would have been the shittiest album of the year. But this bunch of weirdos know exactly what they’re doing. . . .

The music consists of sporadic, fuzzy riffs, catchy hooks and song structures that could only occur when Dr. Frankenstein took the brains of every member of Kalmah and stuck them into Rammstein. The vocals alternate between a artificially distorted screeches, and that low goth industrial rumble that turns most girl’s insides all mushy. Add a splattering of electronic blips and bloops, and some lyrics about science gone mad, and you’ve got mathdeathboogie, my new favorite made-up genre.

(more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

BLISTERING: NEW SONGS FROM NIGHTRAGE, DAGON, AND SKELETONWITCH

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Sep 072011
 

Last night I came across three new songs — from Nightrage, Dagon, and Skeletonwitch. Each of them individually is blistering. Listening to them all together runs the risk of leaving you like this:

So, y’know, maybe it’s better to listen to one now and then another one tomorrow and then the third one sometime next week. Unless that picture up above would be an improvement in your looks, in which case just GO FOR IT!

NIGHTRAGE

Right after the jump, we’ve got the second song to premiere from Insidious, the new album coming on September 27 (a day earlier internationally) from Sweden’s Nightrage. Based on this track (“Hate Turns To Black”) and the one we featured last month (here), this album sounds like it’s going to be the strongest Nightrage release since Sweet Vengeance (2003) and Descent Into Chaos (2005). Continue reading »

PLAYING HAVOK WITH THE CIPHER SYSTEM

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Sep 052011
 

Here are a couple of things I saw at the end of last week that I thought were worth sharing: a drum-cam video of Pete Webber, the talented drummer of Denver’s Havok, doing his thing and a new song from Sweden’s Cipher System, doing their thing. What Havok and Cipher System are both doing in these clips is kicking butt, metaphorically speaking (though my butt actually did feel like it had been kicked after these two songs).

PETE WEBBER / HAVOK

Havok is one of the few current-generation thrash bands who I can get into without reservation. They’ve got hell-on-wheels riffage, nasty throat-scraping vocals, and — yes — a drummer who’s worth isolating with your ears as Havok’s songs barrel through your cranium. Havok will be touring parts of the US and Canada in October and November along with Exhumed, Goatwhore, and Cephalic Carnage. I would knock down doors to see that show — if it were only coming to Seattle, but the farthest west this tour is venturing is Flagstaff, Arizona (Flagstaff? Really?). Sigh. (You can find the schedule here.)

In the drum cam video we’ve got for you right after the jump, Pete Webber plays through a Havok song called “Time Is Up”. It was premiered late last week by Sick Drummer Magazine. This isn’t your usual drum-cam video, with a camera fixed down by the kick pedals and another one looking over the drummer’s shoulder. In this pro-quality footage, there are multiple, shifting camera angles of Webber against a black background. Fun to watch, and “Time Is Up” is a badass song. Continue reading »

NCS LABOR DAY MIXTAPE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Sep 052011
 

Here in the U.S., today is a holiday for most people. It’s called Labor Day, and it’s intended to celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers. It was established as a federal holiday in 1894, but 30 States had already established state Labor Day holidays by then. Traditionally in this country, it marks the end of summer, and it’s a time when people congregate, drink bucketloads of beer, and stuff themselves with grilled food while enjoying the sunshine (or baking in the heat, depending on where you are).

I thought it would be appropriate for NCS to provide some brain-coring musical accompaniment for today’s revels. Hell, even people who live in countries that don’t have a holiday today might enjoy a bit of brain-coring.

So, I put together a multi-national 15-song mixtape that you can download for free. Over the course of this summer, we wrote about each of the bands whose music is included, and on the track list after the jump, I’ve included links to those posts in case you want to learn more about the bands and the music.

I impulsively compiled this mixtape on the spur of the moment this morning, so I didn’t take the time to ask any of the bands for permission. Instead, I used “deductive reasoning”: Each of these bands have themselves made this music available for free; therefore, I reasoned, they probably wouldn’t care if I made it available for free, too. (more after the jump, including the download link . . .) Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries